But Nobody Came
by UnderWarAU
Summary: This is not a story, it's a concept. -:-:- Frisk has been in her own special... you know... for three days. Her Sans and Ink were searching, she was sure of it, but Error and Nightmare were making it hard to keep hoping. At least Handplate, Blaster, Swap, and Dream were there to keep her company in their shared prison... Frisk called for help. But Nobody Came. T- slight violence
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. So, this isn't an actual story... it's kind of like a concept chapter or something, I don't know. I had this idea a few weeks ago and wrote the first five paragraphs, then left it until, like, three days ago. I wrote the rest and viola, here it is.**

 **So the idea is this:**

 **What if Nightmare Sans and Error Sans decided to work together? (That's not a new idea, I know) and what if they capture a bunch of Sanses to do some evil, magicky stuff? (Not new either) and THEN, what if they have Frisk too? (Not new, but I don't see if very often) finally, what if Sans Prime (or Classic Sans) and Ink Sans work together to save them? (Not new... what a surprise.)**

 ****

 **Then I picked my favorite AUs and used their Sanses. That would be...**

 ****

 **Handplate AU (really cool, and I know it's popular. Not sure HOW popular, but it's AWESOME)**

 **Gaster Blaster Sans (also really cool. Since there's a lot of different versions and degrees of transformation, I always thought of him as looking mostly normal, but having the sharp not-horn bones on his skull, sharper teeth, a tail, claws, and his legs are structured like an animal's with talons.)**

 **UnderSwap (I actually don't like a blueberry very much... but I** _ **LOVE**_ **Swapyrus. So Blueberry gets captured and Swapyrus canhelp save him yay!)**

 **DreamTale (DREAMMMMYYYYY because** _ **DUH**_ **. Nightmare is his brother, so of course it'd be easiest to capture him, so trusting and all.)**

 ****

 **And then Frisk, of course.**

 ****

 **Then the good guys who team up to save the others** _ **AND**_ **all the timelines are:**

 ****

 **Sans**

 **Ink**

 **Dream (who escapes. Read below)**

 **Fell (because I love Fell x3)**

 **Swapyrus (who is more like Sans than his Sans is)**

 **Gaster!Sans (BECAUSE** _ **AAAAAAAAAAAA**_ **)**

 **And maybe BabyBones because of course the little cutie would tag along, y'know?**

 ****

 **Sooooooooooo I dunno what to do with this. What do you two think? (Sorry couldn't resist)**

 ****

 **OH! Also. I wrote this on an app that allows different fonts, so each Sans has a different font. But it doesn't show up on FFN. (Yeah... only Prime and Ink actually use an actual Sans font. I'm sorry, I know that's blasphemous to the rest.)**

-

"W **He** Re A **R** e **y** _-y-y0_ U G **o** _ **1**_ _Ng, F_ - **F-F** _ **ri**_ _5_ k?" Error asked in his glitching, mismatched voice. He had the poor human girl by the SOUL with his puppet strings, and more were wrapping around  
her arms, legs, neck... She was terrified.

Error hated it when she tried to escape... So did Nightmare. "She made a run for it _again_? You should put more collar, less leash on that _pet_ of ours, Error." The other twisted skeleton rasped as he approached from the direction of the fiery,  
reverse version of Snowdin from Frisk's timeline- Undertale Prime.

Frisk trembled, suspended by a tangle of strings in front of the two alternate Sans. If only Ink and _HER_ Sans knew where she was... If only they would find her! But this AU was not among Ink's collection. It was Error and Nightmare's own personal  
version, twisted and horrible. They had created it using their combined powers... And that of a few other prisoners. Frisk had watched this world come into being, and she wished never again to witness such pain inflicted on anyone as she had seen  
in those moments.

If only she could free all of them... If only she could free herself... If only her Sans would come...

Frisk called for help.

 _...But nobody came._

Nightmare and Error dragged their favorite plaything away, laughing at her screams. Nobody had come. Nobody _would_ come.

"It's been three days, Ink." Sans muttered in his deep voice. "Are you sure they won't hurt her?" Ink turned to his friend and counterpart, shaking his skull sadly.

"No... But I know they won't kill her. My brother- _Error_ , I mean- he's not a killer. Nightmare likes terrifying his victims, manipulating them to feel the widest range of negative feelings he can. Anger, fear, hate, despair... He feeds off it. Error  
just likes playing with people. He... Doesn't know what he's doing... I'm _sure_ of it. Nightmare probably convinced him this was okay."

Sans Ink and Sans Prime had been searching for days for Frisk, ever since Sans Error and Sans Nightmare had abducted her. Prime had been **furious** when his human was taken, running himself ragged trying to save her. Ink had convinced him to take a  
break, just an hour or so... Or more, since the ketchup he had given Sans was drugged.

For his own good, Ink knew. Sans would work himself to the **BONE** ( _heh heh_ ) if Ink didn't do something to stop him for at least a little while. Of course, the comedian had been even more angry when he awoke and figured out what happened, but  
Ink explained and eventually Sans calmed down.

Now, the two skeletons were sitting in what passed for Ink's living room as they went through AU after AU, trying to figure out where Frisk was being held.

They had so far been unsuccessful.

"Ink! _INK!_ " Both skeletons whirled to face the intruder. Sans' left eye glowed a vicious blue, and Ink had the broom-sized paintbrush in his hand, mismatched eyes narrowed fiercely. Each of their defenses, however, were lowered when the invader  
turned out to be Sans Dream.

" _Dream_? What are you doing _here_?!" Ink asked incredulously. This wasn't the right question to ask the caped skeleton; the right question to ask would have been 'where have you _been_?!'

Sans Dream had gone missing _three months ago._

He fell to his hands and knees in front of Ink and Sans, coughing up a few drops of monster blood. The guardian of Alternate Universes collapsed beside his good friend, hugging Dream tightly. Sans stayed where he was, inspecting the newcomer. Prime had  
always been one of the more paranoid of the Sanses.

Dream's cape was jaggedly torn and scorched in several places. His pants were ripped and bloodied. One shoe was gone, and the other was uncharacteristically monochromatic. Several cracks in Dream's bones were deep and untreated, and the band he wore on  
his skull was gone.

All in all, Dream looked like a nightmare.

"Geez, what happened to _you_ , kid?" Sans finally spoke up, kneeling beside the other two. He placed a hand on Dream's shoulder carefully, unsure if this would actually break him. Judging from the state of his bones, it might have had Sans not been  
so incredibly gentle.

"Er-Error... A-and Nightmare. Frisk... Blaster... Th-the others... They h-have... Them... All..." Dream coughed again. His eye sockets closed and the grip on Ink's scarf became nonexistent. Sans CHECKed the injured monster.

 _0.5 HP_

 _ **0.4 HP**_

"Ink- he's dying. We gotta get him something fast or Dreamy here is gone- and his information with him." Though easy-going was Sans' M.O., in battle or on a mission he was extremely ruthless. Dream had said 'Frisk'.

Sans probably would have saved him because he cared about the monster's life, but the second _HIS human_ was mentioned Dream's life became important only for information.

Sans took charge and picked his smaller version up, placing him on Ink's art table. Ink grabbed a piece of Butterscotch Pie from Toriel Prime's kitchen and handed it to Sans. "He's my friend." He mumbled. Sans ignored the artist. He was useless as long  
as he was in shock anyway, and Prime had more important things to worry about than that.

Force feeding Dream wasn't too hard, and both conscious monsters stood back as the healing item did its magic. Bones re-connected, fractures sealed up, clothes were restored. The metal band reappeared on the crown of Dream's skull. Finally, after seeming  
hours, his eyes opened wide.

"Ink- Error and Nightmare are going to destroy **everything**!"

Frisk had curled into a ball the second Error's puppet strings released her in the cell she'd come to know as home. Scooting as far into the back corner as she could, the poor girl glared at her captors through a veil of brown bangs.

She was scared of them, for sure. Terrified, even. But Frisk was the human embodiment of Detemination, and even after all this time, she had not been broken.

Not... _completely_ , anyway. Frisk had never been through anything as bad as this, and it was taking its toll. Not even the other SOUL of Determination, Frisk's almost constant companion Chara could help her here, unlike any other time since Frisk  
had fallen in the beginning. The (rather mean) ghost had been only visible to Frisk, up until Error and Nightmare appeared out of the blue one day.

Frisk (and Chara by default) had been hanging out with Sans, working on a way to make Chara visible to others besides Frisk. Right as Sans was doing the last bit of wiring in the tiny locket Chara had once owned, an Error sign had appeared in midair between  
the skeleton and Frisk. Then another. And another. Frisk had heard Sans curse, something he rarely did in front of her, and pull out his phone to call someone as something that looked like a twisted version of the smaller skelebro appeared.

Chara had seemed to recognize the newcomer as well, but Frisk didn't have any time to wonder how both her friends knew this creature before he'd grabbed her and shoved her through in front of him. Chara, who had never been able to move any farther away  
than a yard from Frisk, somehow was stopped from following.

For the first time in ten years, Frisk was completely _alone_.

And in trouble. Error gleefully explained the girl's situation to Frisk as he dragged her by the SOUL into that very cell three days prior. Nightmare appeared from the shadows behind her, pulling Frisk againsthis chest with a dark chuckle and doing  
his best to frighten had only gotten worse in the time since those first moments.

She'd met the other prisoners by now. Dream, Swap, Blaster, and Handplate. Handplate had seemed the most... _calm_... about everything, with Blaster a close second. Dream and Swap had both been crying when Frisk met them, but the other, calmer Sanses  
had been quick to comfort them. All five had quickly become friends, as one tends to do when finding oneself in a dire situation with few others.

Even though Error and Nightmare kept them in separate cells, all of them were let out for meals together. Now, you would think that with only two evil Sanses and four good ones, surely they would have escaped by now, right?

Wrong.

Error kept his puppet strings- which weren't immune to but could block the collective telekinetic ablilites of the others- between captors and captives, and Nightmare ensured that anyone who got too close to the glowing blue barrier was so overwhelmed  
by negative emotions and terrifying hallucinations that eventually even Handplate, the most determined of the skeletons, had given up trying. Frisk hadn't, of course, until the others begged her to stop for her own health.

Still, aside from that, Error and Nightmare left them alone for meals. After all, every other moment of the day was bad enough.

One by one, each Sans would be taken somewhere just out of sight -but not out of earshot- where the others heard screaming. One by one, they were returned while another was brought. Always one at a time. Always for an hour. Frisk had asked Blaster what  
they were doing, but he refused to say.

All Gaster Blaster Sans would tell Frisk was that she was lucky she wasn't a monster and that he was glad it wasn't her. That was bad enough, but when it was Swap's turn and he came back too weak to even cry, Frisk got angry. Hurting Swap Sans was like  
hurting both Sans _AND_ Papyrus, all at once. Dreamy had been next, and for him it was even worse. She couldn't stand it any longer.

She was **DETERMINED** to do _**SOMETHING**_.

The next meal, Frisk met with Handplate and Blaster to discuss a plan that had been forming slowly. "We can't approach Error's strings without Nightmare causing hallucinations, right?" They nodded. Obviously both knew this, but Frisk must have something  
in mind for her to repeatit. "What if all of us go at once? Can he handle all five?"

That was as far as Frisk could think. She didn't have anything else after that, but of course it was at least something. They agreed to try.

"*Hey, Error. Look at that. They're trying something." Nightmare chuckled, watching the huddled group from where he was leaning against the wall in the typical Sans fashion. "*H **-h** _ **-**_ _Hu_ H? o _h,_ w **hAT** n- _N0_ _ **-O**_ **w**?"

The two villains watched as all four of their other selves and Frisk walked towards them at once. Nightmare frowned, a rare occurrence for any Sans. "*I don't like that." He began working his magic. There was an effect, but more than three people required  
more power than he had at the moment. He wasn't weak, of course. But it had been a while since Nightmare had visited one of his 'refueling stations', usually someplace filled with despair and anguish, like a bar or the site of a massacre.

They'd reached the strings, and all the Sanses threw their magic into the fight, wherever they were strongest. Dreamy covered his friends in good feelings, because contrary to Nightmare, the more people he was helping, the stronger he grew. Blaster, usually  
in a state of semi-transformation, changed fully into a Gaster Blaster, digging his skeletal claws into the hard floor and snarling with the effort of using all his magic in attacks, both with a blast from his skeletal jaws and with telekinesis. Handplate's  
eye glowed the brightest of all of them, purely devoted to bone and telekinetic attacks. Swap was strongest with his bone attacks like Papyrus usually was, as he filled that role in his universe, so he only attacked with physical and blue bones.

And Frisk simply hacked at the strings with her worn dagger, a gift from Chara 'for when you need to get your hands dirty for once, you Pacifistic loser, you!' (A mean way for Chara to say she actually cared about Frisk.)

Error and Nightmare had temporarily lost control, as their prisoners bolted down the hallway and towards freedom. For a certain distance around the cell block and eating area, the skeletons' teleportation abilities had been blocked somehow. But, even  
though (nearly) all Sanses were known for being lazy, all of them could run. _Fast_.

They made it past whatever had been jamming the magic, with Error and Nightmare right on their heels. Handplate, Frisk, and Blaster halted the two maniacs at the doorway to allow Dreamy and Swap time to escape.

Only Dream made it out in time.

Swap, Handplate, Blaster, and Frisk had all been ambushed by Error's puppet strings, whipping up thier legs and around their bodies and arms before anyone could stop it. Dream had only escaped because Swap had taken the strings meant for him.

Error and Nightmare had returned each one to their cells, bringing Frisk along to every session with each Sans to watch them suffer as her punishment, and extended the length of time to two hours as the skeletons' punishments. That's how she discovered  
Error and Nightmare were planning to create their own 'paradise' of chaos...and destroy everything else.

"*They're going to **WHAT**?!" Ink choked, staring at the wide-eyed Dream with sockets gone dark in surprise.

"*Ink... They're going to destroy everything, and they're using the others to do it and poor little Frisk had to watch them and- Ink, _they are draining the magic of four Sanses._ "

Sans Prime watched on grimly, saying nothing. If Dream had escaped, then likely _His Human_ had something to do with it. She was always doing that selfless crap. Which meant, of course, that in the process of helping Dream escape she'd been recaptured.  
And thus, punished.

And it was _**Dream's fault**_.

"*Alright, kid. Listen to me _very_. _Carefully_. You're going to tell me where Error and Nightmare are, you're going to tell me how to get there, and then you're going to get me there. And once we get there, you're going to help me save Frisk.  
Because right now, Megalovania is going to start any minute. If Error and Nightmare aren't the ones listening to it, **YOU WILL BE**."

Ink yanked Sans Prime away from Dream, who had tears beginning to well up again in fear. "*Don't you **DARE** talk to him like that!" The artist yelled. "*I can talk to him however I want to, it's **HIS** fault _**MY HUMAN**_ didn't escape, and  
he _knows_ it!" Prime yelled back, just as angry and probably more.

"*It's _not_ his fault, Prime! Leave Dream alone or...or **else**!" Ink had placed himself between his two friends, glaring at the hoodied skeleton. Prime leaned back suddenly, with a rather dark smirk on his face. "*Or else _what_?" The  
original Sans knew his counterpart was almost as nice as Dream. There was no way Ink would actually try and hurt him, Sans bet.

For a solid ten seconds, Ink's fists were clenched so tight they were rattling audibly. He didn't do anything more, clearly trying to think of a reply. But Sans Prime had guessed correctly, and the artist couldn't bring himself to threaten anyone more  
than he had already. "*Just... Leave him alone. Let's stop fighting each other and start saving our friends."

 **Yeah... that's about the extent of it. I have some vague ideas about, like, them going to UnderFell to recruit Fell and Fell and Prime get into a fight because the only way Fell'd agree to help was if he got, and I quote, "*Five minutes alone with the kid, heheh." Pretty sure he was saying that JUST to get Prime angrythough. And Swapyrus appearing out of knowwhere and they're tying to figure out how he knew to go where they were and he's just like, '*I followed the stench of ketchup' as he takes a gulp of honey. And thenpuns ensue, of course.**

 **And Gaster!Sans would be all 'boo' and scare the crap out of Dream, laugh a little, then offer his services because there's nothing better to do and all the other Sanses (sans Swapyrus, HAHA) are jealous of him being tall and he goes and offers his services to Error and Nightmare right after so you don't know which side he's really on**

 **And then basically more stuff like that.**

 ****

 **So I really don't know what to do with this... er... tell me what you think I guess.**


	2. Okay this is a story now

So I just wrote this big long thing for this chapter. An then.  
It got.  
Deleted.

SO! Instead I'll do the short version.  
Yes this will be a story now.  
Current good guys (no team name yet)  
Classic/Prime  
Ink  
Dream  
Fell(to be recruited)  
G!Sans(TBR)  
BabyBones (TBR except he's a stowaway)  
Swapyrus(TBR)  
Others you can think of.

Bad Guys (no team name either)  
Error  
Nightmare or Mare for short  
G!Sans(TBR)  
Horror(TBR)  
Reaper(I think he's evil? TBR)  
FloweyPoss!(TBR and technically Sans isn't evil but has no choice in the matter)  
Others you can think of.

THERE WILL BE NO MENTION OF UNDERFRESH SANS IN THIS FIC AND IF YOU DO I WILL AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH oka thanks I just really hate that one sorry

Things you need to know to read this:  
It's not planned out. I write a chapter and post it, that's IT. so I know it's not the best.  
I ship Sarisk(or Frans). That's why Prime is so protective of His Human.  
G!Sans WILL have ulterior motives for BOTH teams he joins. Not like that's a surprise.  
Chara is female in this and WILL be helpin the good guys. This is a Post-True Pacifist, DUH, so she's good not evil. Just a jerk. (I normally see her as male. But in this ficis changed for some reason)  
Um. Oh! No Lusttale. Ever. No mentioning it. BAD. BAD.  
PTA! Will make an appearance, I think, but only for comic relief. He won't be part of a team because... PTA... Sooo.  
There will be references to as man fandom a as I can think of.

Yes I know everything in this will be cliche. I happen to have a weird love of cliches. Just don't read if you don't like than but if you do then awesome! There IS a reason they're overused, you know. Because they're great.

Okay that's the idea of wha I said... It was cooler last versio though. 


	3. Chapter 2 or 1

**Depending on if you consider the first one a prologue or a chapter. This one is rather short.**

 **Kylapon(or however you spell it sorry): I thought about it.. But these guys are Sanses. There's NO WAY EVER they're going to put ONE papyrus in harms way. Much less all of them! (Except Swapyrus, who is basically Sans, and maybe Fellpyrus, but probably not)**

 **Um I forgot. The person who suggested Paper Jam: isn't he Error and Ink's son or something weird like that? In this they're brothers... Soooooooooooooooooo yeah no fontcestof any kind in this fic.**

* * *

"*Frisk." The human's head snapped up in terror, expecting Error or Mare. She sighed in relief when it was Blaster who met her gaze with a small grin. "Hi, Blaster. What's up?"

To keep the remaining prisoners from becoming too rowdy, Error had convinced Nightmare to allow them to have cells right next to each other. Blaster was to Frisk's left, Handplate to her right, and Swap was at her back. It was a lot less boring now,  
/as they were constantly discussing the differences in each home timeline and, to change things up, escaping.

"*I think I have a new idea!" Blaster beamed. (Pun intended.) "* _Oh, great_ , here we go again." Handplate grumbled from his spot on the floor. He had his back to the other three, leaning against the bars forming the cell wall. His legs were drawn  
/up and his elbows were resting on kneecaps loosely. "Handplate, that's rude!" Frisk scolded, flicking the grumpy skele's skull through the shared bars. Swap giggled before turning to Blaster.

"*Go ahead, we're listening!"

* * *

"*Okay, Dream. Tell us what's happening." Ink asked gently, crouching next to his friend. The brightly-colored skeleton was sitting on the floor, practically drowning in a huge blanket and cradling a mug of cocoa. He'd finally calmed down enough to  
/speak coherently... no thanks to _Prime_.

Speaking of the Classic Sans, he was angrily leaned against the wall in the corner, fists shoved so hard into his pockets the seams had almost burst. Ink's approach was too soft, too slow for his tastes. Prime needed to find her **NOW**. Still,  
/no use complaining about the past. (because that had _totally_ worked before, right?) "* _Well_? Get on with it, buddo." He spoke up in the voice he used for the kid during the (numerous) Resets. Ink flashed a look his direction, but the  
/smile was locked in place and the artist knew there was no reasoning with Classic now. He turned back to Dream.

"*Well... Nightmare had come over. And, you know my brother, he was really friendly at first and I thought- maybe this time- maybe he was _finally_ sorry, you know? But... it was a trick... and the next thing I remember is being stuck in a cell  
/somewhere. And then Error shows up with Mare, and the Sans from UnderSwap was caught in Error's puppetstrings. He was crying, but they didn't let me comfort him... Handplate and Blaster showed up next. Then they... they..." He shuddered before  
/continuing. "They started taking us one by one into this room... it looked like the DT Extractor from the True Lab." He stopped again, and Ink did a very good job of being a supportive friend.

"*A few days ago, they came in with a new prisoner." Prime's fists clenched even harder in his pockets. "*It was Frisk... B-But don't worry! The others are keeping her safe, I'm sure." Sans stood and walked slowly to his two (admittedly, probably

too sheltered) counterparts, looming above. A spark of blue in one eye socket, his face shrouded in shadow, the grin ever-present. Sans Classic was _angry_ , and even Ink couldn't help a shiver down his spine.

"*They're expecting us. We need help." He stated simply, surprising the two below. Ink was so sure he would threaten Dream Sans again, it took him a moment to reply. "* _O-Oh_! You're right. Well, where do we stop first?"

Sans managed a scowl, though the smile never even twitched. "*We need big guns. **UnderFell**." Classic despised that timeline with a passion, and it was obvious by the audible sound of his teeth grinding together. It wouldn't be the first  
time

he and his darker double had crossed paths, that bas- Dream interrupted his thoughts. "*P-Prime?"

"*Yeah, buddo?"

"*I-I really am sorry... Frisk is a really good friend. She always spoke highly of you..." Prime didn't reply. He turned away, stalking back out of sight. Dream thought there was a stiffening of the shoulders, however, though it seemed impossible

for the original to possibly get any more taut at the moment.

* * *

Error and Nightmare were sitting in their twisted version of the True Lab, poring over results and calculations. After all, even _villains_ have to do work to get stuff accomplished.

"*Error."

"*Y **e-E** S, N- _N-N1ght-_ _ **t-**_ **t-tm** 4re?"

"*Someone from another timeline is trying to get in touch with us."

Error turned to look over his ally's shoulder, confused. "*W- _w-Wh_ y **w0uLd** 4n **yO** _ **Ne d0**_ _th_ at?" Nightmare's smile turned into a sickening smirk, glancing to the side to exchange a look  
with the problematic skeleton.

"*They're offering their help. Let's go check it out, _partner_."

"* _Well_? You caught our interest. Speak now." Nightmare spoke calmly, arms crossed as Error held the portal open behind him. Just in case this was a trick. After all, one can never be _too_ careful when this _particular_ version of themselves  
/was involved, Nightmare had reasoned. A strange, high-and-low-pitched giggle echoed from their prospective new teammate as he- or is it _they_?- winked. "*Howdy! I heard you were having some fun, mucking up some Sanses' days, that kind of  
/thing. That brat Ink and Sans Prime are getting together a group to fight. You'll need help, and... I guess little ol' me will have to do! Hehehe."

FloweyPossessed!Sans was covered in vines and Flowey's voice was predominant, but you could tell he was still there in the occasional twitching of a finger or tear escaping from an eye socket. For the exception of the more Paps-like or innocent-in-general  
/Sanses, you'd be hard-pressed to find a version that will ever, _EVER_ cry in front of anyone. The fact that an otherwise normal Sans was reduced to that showed _just how much_ this version of Flowey had done. Even Error was unnerved by  
/the creeping vine.

Nightmare, however, only grinned wider, stretching out a tentacle forPoss! to shake. "*You've got yourself a deal. Come, meet our... _guests_." Turning from the Flower sticking out of one socket, Mare looked into the socket of the real,

trapped Sans with a smug wink. "*I'm sure you'll like seeing the kid again, huh?" The only response was the disappearance of the white pupil.

He ushered their new colleague towards Error and the portal. He stopped briefly for one last examination of the timeline they were leaving. Looking around, Nightmare nodded in approval. "*Very nice example of a Genocide, Flowey. _Very_ nice. _However_ did  
/you manage to keep the human or Sans' control from coming back?" A sickening giggle echoed into the dust-coated emptiness as the gateway closed, along with this last sentence;

"*Oh, that was _easy_. **I just saved Papyrus for last~!"**


	4. Recruiting Begins

**SO SORRY! I had issues uploading this and forgot it for a few weeks. Soooo HAI!**

Blaster, Swap, Frisk, and even Handplate were all gathered at the corner where their cells met, huddled conspiratorially. "*Okay, so... Swap, I know Error trusts you a lot more than the rest of us. If Nightmare is busy somewhere else, it'll be easier for you to convince him to let you out. I don't know what for, but figure something out. And then, Handplate, you're the strongest of all of us, magically. You've gotta hit Error when his strings are down. He puts them down as soon as the doors close if Nightmare isn't around to remind him. And then you can bring us the keys, unlock us, and after that, I'll just go full Gaster Blaster and sniff us to freedom. Once we're outside, we can open a portal and get out of here!"

Handplate looked skeptical, but he agreed. After all, it wasn't like he had anything more to lose. "*I'm in." He shrugged, then grinned wider at the thought. He was always up for sticking it to anyone who tried to cage him. Swap leapt to his feet with a big thumbs up. "*ME TOO!" Frisk laughed at his antics and nodded. "Let's do it."

Error didn't like hanging around Poss!. It was unsettling, and he'd never liked a _NORMAL_ Flowey to begin with, much less one like _this_ version. Nightmare seemed to adore the newest addition, though, and was proudly showing the puppet and puppet master around his and Error's twisted home. "*And here, as promised, are our esteemed visitors." The dark skeleton chuckled darkly when Frisk flinched at his sudden voice behind her. Blaster and Handplate gripped their bars closest to her, wishing they could comfort her but unable to. Swap was napping in the corner, curled in a little, shivering ball. None of them had been given blankets or even a pallet, and their last meal was twelve hours ago, by Handplate's count. He'd gotten proficient at keeping track of those things... _early_ in life.

Poss! winked at Frisk when, as she turned to face them, the human let out a sob of horror at what at first glance seemed to be _HER_ Sans, taken over by the flower that had caused so much pain. The truth was marginally better, however. "*Hehehe... Hello, kiddo." The voice was predominantly Sans', but the familiar tag was spat as if a curse, and there was no mistaking the hint of blue magic pooling, liquid-like, in the skeleton's clear eye and the absence of a white pinprick.

Frisk's heart went out to him- but not _literally_ , thank goodness. Nightmare had already insisted no battles be initiated quite yet. Reluctantly, Poss! had agreed. Still, flinging the prisoner around a bit wasn't discouraged, and he took great pleasure in doing just that. "*Alright, Poss!. That's enough. Come. You said they were gathering. We must begin our own recruitments. Error, _stay._ "

Error scowled at Nightmare's back. He was no guard dog, nor was he the least of the currently assembled villains. Still. Nightmare was not the only smart one. Error knew how to wait, to be patient. It was rather ironic how one of the most unchanged things about every Sans was their connection to Integrity, and yet they could also be patient when the need arose. Well. Error could certainly be- "*U-Um... E-Error...?"

"*̑҉W̌̉ͯ͆̉Hͮ̋ͨ̆ͣͫ͠Aͮ͂͊̂ͨT̓?̧ͪ̽̏͑͛!̽" He snapped, whirling on the most timid of the prisoners. Error calmed when he realized it was Swap, one with whom he had always shared an unexplained bond. "̳̌̎̊̇ͦ̏̊̀*̩̮̠̲̫̦͐ͨ͗ͯͅW̊̆̀ͫ̀͑̚ḩ̅̓ͮ͒͂ͅa̞̫̮͇̠̺͋ͯͭ̊̀t͎̲͓̮̥̺ͪ͌̐͢?̖͔͉̾ͪ̕" He amended, stepping closer to the still-flinching skeleton. Swap stood straighter, unusually bold. "*U-Um... I was wondering... C-Could I go outside?" Error hesitated for only a moment before opening the door with a wider-than-neccesary grin. It would have made the others nervous if not for the obvious irritation on his face moments before when Nightmare shrugged him off.

It was clear his readiness to allow some freedom was at least partly to stick it to Nightmare, and all of them thanked their stars.

Until, that is, Swap and Error were out of Handplate's range, and he _STILL_ had not lowered the defenses. "*Why didn't he-?" Frisk whispered to Handplate, getting a highly confused shrug and head shake in return. Blaster cursed, but it sounded more like an animalistic growl. They would try again some other time, but the plan would likely never work again.

 _Back to the drawing board._

"*Well, well, well. Lookee what I found." A rough chuckle echoed through the snow-covered, dead trees. Prime huffed, the air freezing to make it visible. "*I am not here for games, Fell. Come out. We need to have a chat."

"*Ooh, not even a pun? Heh. Your Paps get whacked 'r' som'thin', Blue?" 'Red' Sans, or Fell, stepped out of the trees. It truly was uncanny, how alike the two were. Out of all the universes, it was perhaps these two that were the closest together, the most alike and different at once.

Fell was his hands in his pockets like nearly all Sanses, but only he and Prime did it the exact same way. All the others were variant. He was slouched in the same way, grinning in the same way- and yet the teeth were razors, and his glee genuine at the prospect of his 'joke' being reality. "*Ohhhh, I get it! It _was_ the kid, **wasn't it?** " His bit the last words practically in half before laughing loudly. His joy only seemed to escalate when Blue growled wordlessly.

"*It _IS_ the kid! **Ha**! What happened to your charge, _babysitter_ , she go **Geno**? Oh, bet **THAT** hurt your _poor widdle-_ Ack!" The last in his line of taunts was cut off by a certain skeleton's fist on his jaw. There was a loud crack, but no dust hit the ground. This, after all, was a Post-Pacifist. Fell was rather hypocritical, he had a 'kid' of his own and was just as happily 'babysitting' as Blue, despite the fact that in both timelines the human was the same age as her respective Sans.

Both had regained a few scraps of HP, thanks entirely to Frisk. Fell had it wrong; it was _they_ who needed taking care of.

"*Shut up, Fell, or so help me..."

"*What? What're you gonna do, Blue?! Kill me? Sure, she'll **LOVE** that. Besides, I know what you're here for! You need my help, you _coward_!" Fell stumbled to his feet, laughing all the way. "*Hit me again, Blue. Do it. **Do it!** " He cackled. This time it was not Classic who cut him off, but a bone smacking into the back of his head from a few feet away. "*SANS. YOU WILL ASSIST THE OTHER SANS IN WHATEVER HE NEEDS. THE TINY HUMAN 'FRIEND' HAS DECREED IT." Red let out a long string of curses- also cut short with a bone. "*TINY HUMAN FRIEND DECREES YOU WILL PUT SEVERAL GOLD INTO THE CURSE JAR."

" ***LOUSY-** I thought you wanted to be the leader of the Royal Guard, not the blind follower of a weak little-!" This time, Classic was the one to cut him off, which was becoming a pattern. "* _No_ version of Frisk is weak. You know that. Now are you going to help me or not? You've got one HP left because of all your idiot mistakes just now." Fell didn't have much choice. He looked from his brother (who was throwing a bone in the air threateningly) to his Frisk (who was looking pleadingly at him while at the same time looking sternly too) to Classic (who was obviously wishing he could hit him again to finish the job but knowing it'd hurt the Paps and the Frisk watching).

"*I hate ya all, so ya know. _FINE_. Let's get on with it, Blue."

From a distance, both sides of the coin were being observed. The watcher? A familiar face, in more than one way. "Hm. Interesting. I always took Error as one to put up with it longer. And those two idiots won't get _anywhere_ fighting in the snow the way they are. All in all, I'd say this battle is shaping up to be a rather _large_ disappointment. _What do you two think?_ " A rich, deep voice chuckled at the familiar line, glancing at his two companions. They remained expressionless as usual, hanging in the section of Void he had torn away for them. "*Oh, of _course_ you would say that." He chuckled lightly, despite the absence of any response to comment on.

He supposed it was time to interfere. **How interesting.**


	5. Getting the gang together

Poss!, Nightmare, and Error were having a meeting.

The prisoners didn't need watching because Handplate and Blaster, the heavy hitters, were still sleeping off the last magic extraction session, and Frisk and Swap were in no shape to be pulling anything either. Not today.

"*A- _a_ -Al **rIGht** Th-H _en, w_ - **wHo** ar **E w** e rE- _e-c_ _ **R**_ **Uit** ing ne **x** T?" Error began, glancing at his two companions. Poss! grinned. "*I have a few friends who would, heh, _LOVE_ a piece of this action. Let  
me go get 'em, and we can get this party started." He chuckled, the mixture of both Sans' and Flowey's voices as disturbing to Error as it was to the prisoners whenever he guarded them.

Poss! loved to torment Frisk especially, telling her in great detail all the horrific events of his timeline. If one of the Sans tried to comfort her or get him to stop, Poss! simply locked his Sans up and possessed them temporarily. There was nowhere  
to try and escape from him in their tiny cells, and the possession process was painful for the skeletons. It didn't help that the Sans he had taken permanent residence in never even spoke to them when he was free.

He would just sit there, staring at the ground. Occasionally a few blue tears would fall, but he never made a sound and he never fought back. Frisk hated those times more than anything the other two had ever done to her or her fellow prisoners, more than  
anything she'd ever been through.

A Sans who would was so truly broken like that... the thought was impossible to grasp. Every Sans lost HOPE, every Sans claimed to have given up, but that was never true.

Poss! Sans had 0 HP. The only reason he didn't dust was because Flowey forced him to stay alive.

"*Well then, Poss!, go get your friends. Error, I want you to accompany him. Create the portals, keep the heroes from locating you. Get back soon, we have more extractions to run." Nightmare ordered, standing smoothly. "*I have business of my own to attend  
to. Dismissed." Poss! and Error stood after him, passing the prisoners on their way outside for easier portal-forming. 

* * *

Ink sighed, sharing an exasperated glance with Dream. For the fifteenth time in twenty minutes, he was standing in between Prime and Fell, arms outstretched and hands planted grimly on both colored jackets. "*TAKE IT **BACK**!" Blue was shouting, as  
Red laughed maniacally. Ink knew Prime wasn't normally so easily set off- in fact, it's normally nearly _impossible_ \- but with the stress of his missing Frisk, the poor original was already at the end of his extremely frayed nerves.

Fell was making nothing better.

"*Sans, _please_." Ink begged in exasperation. "*We don't have TIME for this! We need to find more Sanses, and find our _true_ enemies. Fighting one another will solve nothing!" Prime shoved himselfaway roughly, stalking off in the opposite  
direction and disappearing into a blue portal. Fell stopped pushing against Ink's restraining hand the second his opposite disappeared, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "*Heh. Loser can't keep his cool." His grin was wider and more menacing than  
usual. Ink glared at him sternly. "* _Underfell Sans_ , you listen to me." He began, nearly as furious as Classic. The artist was simply better at keeping his skull on when his temper was shoved towards the edge. "*If you don't stop antagonizing  
Sans Prime, I **WILL** trap you on a piece of paper and leave you there until you _behave_." To prove the point, Ink held up the paper prison.

Fell just shrugged, leaning against nothing as if it were a wall. In Ink's home, the nothingness could become a wall if you willed it to. "*Whatever, Inky. Let's just get ta the fightin' already." The thought of violence made his pinpricks grow to the  
size of pennies as opposed to dimes in excitement. Not for the first time, Ink wondered how the UnderFell Frisk made it to Post-Pacifist at all. Resets and loads or not, this Sans was _bloodthirsty_.

"*We can't until we have more allies."

"*Alright, I think I know a few I can scrounge up. I'll be back later. See ya, Inky. Princess." He nodded at Dream, who scowled at the nickname and adjusted his headband self-consciously. It was _NOT_ a tiara.

As soon as Fell disappeared into his red portal, an orange one formed. Both Sanses left were confused; who would be showing up without an invitation?

"*Ah, good. I needed to talk to you two." Came a familiar voice. Ink's smile widened into a relieved grin. "* _Oh!_ Hello, Swapyrus. Am I glad to see _you!_ " 

* * *

Prime had his hands shoved into his pockets as he walked from one Timeline to another, looking for the right one. He needed to cool off, and he knew the perfect Sans to go to.

"*Oh, hey. It's a surprise to see you here, Prime... What's up?" The other Sans greeted casually. Prime flopped onto the couch, glancing out the window to look at the sky. It wasn't night in this timeline, and he felt a tad disappointed.

Still, this AU's Sans was always good to talk to. Speaking of whom, the alternate smol skelle sat in an armchair across from Prime, waiting patiently for him to explain his visit. This wasn't the first time they'd had talks about stuff, and he was sure  
it wouldn't be the last.

"*It's complicated." Prime groaned, closing his eye sockets. "*Found out what happened to my human. It's not good. And now, to get her back, I have to deal with _Fell_ of all Sanses." PTA grimaced. He could relate.

"*So, what are you going to do about it?" He asked calmly, playing the part. It was pretty _humerus_ , _tibia_ honest, how his and Prime's dynamic worked out. The only _real_ difference between them was Frisk. PTA's was still a kid, and he was  
their Dunkle. Prime and his Frisk were the same age, and the relationship was a _lot_ closer than family.

Because that was the only change in this AU, they were pretty good friends, seeing as a Sans is the only person another Sans could talk to about some things. Things like their Frisks and Papyruses, the **Void** and Gaster, and frustrations about the  
ruder versions.

"*I'm gonna punch his malevolent grin in, that's what I'm gonna do." He growled, but both knew Classic wouldn't actually do that. He needed Fell, at least for now, and besides. His human would scold him. "*Okay, great. But what are you _REALLY_ gonna  
do?"

"*I dunno. I came here for that." Prime admitted, calming down already. PTA nodded, idly scratching his chin. "*Welp, seems like you're doing fine yourself. What do you need to do to get your human back?"

"*Recruit a buncha me's. Wanna help out?"

The two talked back and forth for a few more minutes before Prime stood with a long sigh. The visit had been calming and nice and all that stuff, but he did need to get back to saving his human. They didn't even really say goodbye; never did. Prime just  
formed a portal and left, passing through one timeline to get back to Ink's.

He didn't notice a tiny blue streak following him in, right before the gateway closed to Ink's dimension. 

* * *

Fell smirked as he closed his portal behind him, stepping off into a black nothingness that still held his weight. "*This isn't my destination. That's not fair, ya know it's against the rules to pull this crap." He complained, waiting for the culprit  
to show himself. G!Sans seemed to form out of the darkness, towering over the smol red skelle even more so than Fellpyrus did. Fell didn't shrink away or show any signs of intimidation, however, merely glancing up with a quirk of his browbone. "*You  
got _his_ flair for drama, G." He said simply.

G smirked, leaning over him slightly. "*Maybe, maybe not. I heard you needed help, figured I'd offer my services."

Fell scoffed. "*G, I know you better than _that_. I know you ain't got no _SOUL'a gold._ " The tall Sans chuckled darkly, shrugging. "*What, a skeleton can't do a good deed every now and then? What a world it is." The two faced off for a few silent  
moments before Fell's gaze diverted, not from submission but disinterest. "*I don't care what you do, ya freak. Jus' stay outta _my_ timeline." 

* * *

The two skeletons returned together to Ink's world, right about the time Prime and his stowaway did. _Both_ Red _and_ Blue were surprised to see Swapyrus lounging on a hastily sketched couch, guzzling a jar of honey when they returned. _Prime_ was  
surprised to see G coming out of Fell's portal with him, and _everyone_ was surprised when Babybones Sans appeared behind Classic, tripped over his overly-large hoodie, and summersaultingout of control until he tumbled to a halt against Classic's  
legs.

"*OOF! ... _Er_... Hiya." The youngest skeleton chuckled in embarrassment as he pushed his oversized hood up to uncover his eyes with hands that were engulfed in too-long sleeves. "*What's _Smallfry_ doin' here?" Fell asked meanly, dodging Swapyrus'  
empty honey jar as it hurtled towards his skull.  
"*Leave Babybones _alone_ , Fell." The Papyrus drawled, lazily but threateningly as most Sans will do. Ink simply sighed and sketched a few more couches for his new allies to sit on while Dream scurried over to Babybones excitedly. "*Hiya!" He replied  
in kind, his star pupils larger even than usual. "*I'm Dream! But maybe you already knew that! It's really nice to meet a Sans who isn't mean!"

Babybones and Dream started chattering amongst themselves, while Ink finished up the last of his sketches, and Prime and Fell started arguing again. G chuckled, watching them all quietly. "*Well. This is _certainly_ as entertaining as I'd hoped." He  
said to himself, a grin twitching at his nonexistent lips.

G had a lot of work to do if he was to shape this motley collection into anything close to a formidable force to defend the multiverse. After all, he _still_ needed to get around to meeting up with Poss! and helping out the opposite side destroy it.

Ah, what a _busy schedule_ he had. So _much_ to do, so _little_ time to do it. And he hadn't even _STARTED_ with his 'master plan' yet!


End file.
